Ban on cotton sowing lifted in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: A ban imposed on cottonsowing in the province has been lifted and farmers can start its cultivation without any delay.

This was stated by Punjab Agriculture Department spokesperson on Monday. The ban was imposed till April 15 to avoid dangers of early sowing to the cotton crop, he said, adding now the department has lifted the ban as the desired results had been achieved.

The department had prepared a plan to offer various free of charge services to cotton growers to enhance the crop production. The growers will get friendly pests, facility of pest scouting, PB-ropes, gadgets to arrest enemy pests, training opportunities and consultation services under the plan, he added.

He advised growers to use certified varieties of cotton seed. He added that spray of recommended varieties of pesticide should be launched in the first phase of cultivation process of the cotton crop.

Cotton crop is to be cultivated over 3.118 million hectares of land across the country during the current sowing season (2017-18) in order to fulfill the domestic requirements as well as exports.

Cotton crop production targets during the season were fixed at 14.40 million bales as against the production targets of 14.1 million bales of last year, said Cotton Commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah.

Talking to APP on Monday, he said that cotton crop is to be cultivated over 2.429 million hectares of land in Punjab , where as in Sindh it would be sown over 0.650 million hectares of land during the current season.

Meanwhile, the cotton crop would be cultivated over 0.038 million hectares of land in Balochistan and on about 0.001 million hectares in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa respectively, he added.